Chapter 16 Thoughts

I always love to hear good special occasion speeches. On the flip side a bad special occasion speech can be a real drag for whatever the event is. Every year I have a friend who hosts an Oscar party and one of the things I like to do is listen to the different speeches made by winners of an Oscar and see how well some people express gratitude while others are terrible. I will focus my discussion on Acceptance speeches because these to me must be very difficult (I have never had to do one!) I think it would be very challenging to humbly and gratefully accept an award, thank those who helped you get there, deal with being nervous, and be concise all at once. I always wonder how many people forget to thank someone major and really regret it later. I like it when people are humble and take the focus from their accomplishment to the bigger picture of what they accomplished. Being succinct I would imagine is the most difficult aspect of delivering an acceptance speech. I know when I am nervous I ramble, especially when I am excited. I love it when someone can say so much in just a few words, its really a gift. Our book also indicates that you should provide the context in which the event leading up to the award occurred. If I ever had to deliver an acceptance speech for receiving an award I would hope that I would be humble and able to acknowledge everyone who helped me get there, I would be concise but would do a thorough job expressing my emotions, and I would contextualize the event.